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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Negotiations between Sears Holdings Corp (SHLDQ.PK) Chairman Eddie Lampert and the bankrupt U.S. division retailer operator approached a decision late on Tuesday because the billionaire hedge fund supervisor confronted the selection of bettering his $5 billion provide for the corporate or ending his takeover plans, individuals acquainted with the matter informed Reuters.
FILE PHOTO: The Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, seen on this November 17, 2004 file photograph. CPROD REUTERS/John Gress
After two days of haggling, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain set a Wednesday deadline to finish the chapter public sale for the 126-year-old retailer, the individuals mentioned. Sears was weighing Lampert’s provide towards the sum it will recoup by winding down its enterprise and promoting its property off in items.
Liquidating Sears would finish the division retailer in its present type, which means layoffs for as many as 68,000 individuals and the closure of about 500 shops.
Last week Lampert, via his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc, made an improved $5 billion provide for Sears after the corporate turned away his earlier $four.four billion bid.
But the identical points that dogged his earlier provide have been proving to be hurdles for his $5 billion proposal.
Sears believes the bid falls quick of masking the payments the retailer has racked up since submitting for chapter safety in October, the individuals mentioned. A bedrock precept of chapter instances is that these bills, referred to as administrative claims, have to be absolutely repaid.
Sears can also be pushing Lampert to supply extra money in alternate for a authorized launch that may defend him from future litigation over transactions he did with the corporate up to now, the individuals added. Lampert has mentioned the offers have been correct.
Lampert’s $5 billion provide had taken on one other $600 million-plus in liabilities, and marked $35 million for a so-called launch from litigation.
Sears declined to remark.
The chapter public sale for Sears started on Monday morning in Manhattan on the places of work of legislation agency Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, which is representing the retailer. On Tuesday, representatives for Sears and Lampert briefed Drain on the standing of the public sale, the individuals mentioned.
Drain pressed each Lampert and the corporate to proceed negotiating and to finish their discussions come what may earlier than Tuesday involves a detailed, the individuals mentioned.
Sears final week made liquidation preparations earlier than reaching a last-minute take care of Lampert that resulted in his newest bid, resulting in the public sale that commenced on Monday.
Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Mike Spector in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby


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Back before the rise of craft beer made it possible to divide an average beer list into actually informative categories like pilsner, stout or IPA, most of those lists used two categories: domestic (cheap) and imported (expensive). With some exceptions a beer's place of origin doesn’t tell you much about its quality. But the logic seemed to be that imported beers deserved a higher price point because they traveled farther to get to your liver.
But as giant international beer conglomerates consolidated dozens of brands over the last decade or so, lines between domestic and import got fuzzy and many of these “imported” beers were no longer even brewed in the country they supposedly came from.
But thanks to the classic notion that “imported” equals more valuable, the new beer conglomerates had a very real interest in convincing customers that certain brews crossed oceans to get to them through labels and advertising. Consumer advocates, on the other hand, believed some of these advertising tactics bordered on being unlawful. Now, for the second time this year, Anheuser-Busch has agreed to settle with those consumer advocates for allegedly misleading consumers into thinking that Beck’s brewed its beer in Germany when it’s actually produced right here in the USA and has been since 2012.

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For more than 24 hours, Verizon Wireless has been experiencing problems across the U.S., according to The Verge.
While calls and data service on phones has not been affected, customers have been complaining that the online systems are down, meaning that they are unable to make online bill payments. There have also been complaints that the the carrier’s upgrade and activation system is down.
A Verizon spokesperson told Business Insider:
We are unfortunately experiencing issues with our billing system, affecting customer accounts mostly in Northeast, Midwestern and some southern states. We are working on a fix. This is an internal billing systems issue not affecting network services; call, text, data services unaffected. Verizon Wireless apologizes for any inconvenience.
In the meantime, complaints are coming in on all sorts of platforms. They are reporting that when they attempt to login in to My Verizon, they see a message that says, “some account actions are temporarily unavailable while we upgrade our systems.”
Here are some of the unhappy customer tweets:
This is such a pain. Verizon, fix my phone.
— Karissa (@karissa_lyn5) June 27, 2014
wow Verizon you are trash I go into upgrade my phone & the whole system is down
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Big Rock Sports customers can now access a “Vendor Resources” toolkit, where they can find a variety of valuable information
For this edition of B2B Resources, we wanted to highlight a handful of dealer rewards programs we’ve learned about recently.
Introduced at the 2017 SHOT Show, the Taurus Spectrum pistol is the result of a collaboration between Taurus USA and
Epicor Software Corp. has announced the latest version of its retail business management solution: Epicor Eagle. Designed for small to
In support of dealers, FFL Design has introduced Dealer Exchange: a wholesale e-commerce platform exclusively focused on the industry. This


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July 8, 2021 10:00:11 am
After Bombay High Court issued a notice to the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), Central and the state government over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that Truecaller is sharing user data with others, the Swedish caller identification app refuted the claim, calling it “false information”.
The petition, which was filed by Shashank Posture, claims that the app collects data of all the users and shares it with some of its partners without the consent of users, and then dumps the liability on the users. PIL has alleged that Truecaller is breaching the data privacy of the users by violating existing laws of the country.
Following which Truecaller said in its statement that the PIL’s claim that Truecaller shares data to certain third parties that would benefit them for financial usage “is false information”. It said, “pursuant to a strategic business decision last year, Truecaller discontinued offering Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment services and has not signed up any new users on UPI since August 2019.”
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The company also asserted that, “Truecaller data is safe, stored 100 percent in India (without any foreign backups or mirrors) and stored with the highest levels of protection.”
After issuing the notice to all the respondents, the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni adjourned the case to July 29.
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- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.


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BT claims to have achieved a 71% share of new broadband customers in the most recent quarter. But Thinkbroadband reports the number as 177,000 of which only 130,000 were new to BT. The difference appears to include many of the 120,000 upgrades. Meanwhile the number of BT’s new TV customers is 97,000 customers, excluding upgrades. So it seems that not all the new customers are taking up the TV services, however cheap the offer.
The loser is Talk Talk, said to be down 101,000 users, 95,000 of them as a result of the well-publicised breach,
I was not able to find figures for Virgin, but where “pure fibre” is on offer it appears that players like Gigaclear and Hyperoptic are giving customers a significantly cheaper service and thus achieving a take-up that gives investors a significantly faster payback than BT’s stated 15 years.
But that is only part of the story. Mobile and wifi now account for over half the traffic: from sport and pornography to shopping and gossip. We should therefore be factoring in services like the 4G infrastructure installed by Arqiva in Canary Wharf and elsewhere. Hence the significance of teh takeover by BT of EE.


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Board sport brand Volcom Inc. said it agreed to buy Laguna Surf & Sport, a Southern California specialty retailer that operates two units in Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo. The deal will allow Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Volcom to strengthen ties with a long-standing retail account and reach more core customers in skate and surf. Terms weren’t disclosed. Volcom said the stores will continue to operate under the same name.
Alberta Ferretti's "Rainbow Week" sweaters are back. The designer closed her #MFW show with a few day-of-the-week sweaters, which first debuted on the catwalk last January as part of the pre-fall 2017 collection. #wwdfashion (📷: @delphineachard)


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Known as gold jewellery fanatics, Indians tend to fire up gold consumption. Yet during the last quarter of 2017, India’s consumption dropped dramatically, plunging global consumption to its lowest point in eight years*.
Weddings, ritual celebrations … The number of opportunities to offer gold has not diminished. So why such disinterest? Because the government passed two laws that appeased the usually excessive appetite of Indians for the precious metal. The authorities began by levying a 3% tax on purchases of goods and services during the summer, before obliging gold sellers to disclose the buyers’ identities. The purpose of the operation was, however, noble since it involved fighting money laundering. Nonetheless, this made consumers suspicious and they decided to decrease their purchases. And when the government wanted to backtrack in the fall, it was too late. Let’s hope that the recovery will be at the rendezvous in 2018! * Source: World Gold Council


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Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have announced a collaboration that looks to expand the streaming service’s original programming.
The entertainment entities have partnered to create an original children’s series inspired by the movie Turbo, set for big-screen 3D release this summer. The film was created by DreamWorks Animation, part of the DreamWorks empire co-founded by director Steven Spielberg.
Featuring voices by Ryan Reynolds and Paul Giamatti, Turbo follows the story of a small snail that develops super-fast powers in the wake of a freak accident.
An article by Reuters writes that the television series, titled Turbo F.A.S.T, will pick up where the movie ends. The show is slated to make its streaming debut on Netflix in December of this year.
In a statement announcing the deal, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the following:
“Families love Netflix, so creating an original series for kids was a natural for us. DreamWorks Animation has a long track record of creating incredibly successful characters and stories that delight people of all ages.”
According to USA Today, Netflix hopes to gain viewership with its first original programming aimed at children. The streaming service added a Just for Kids section in 2011 and continues to increase focus on the young demographic.
For DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, the collaboration is a logical one:
“Netflix boasts one of the largest and fastest-growing audiences in kids’ television. They pioneered a new model for TV dramas with House of Cards, and now together, we’re doing the same thing with kids’ programming. DreamWorks is thrilled to be part of the television revolution.”
In addition to the Turbo F.A.S.T original series, Netflix users will also be able to stream Turbo and other new DreamWorks Animation films soon.


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Kaiko data indicates bankrupt crypto exchange FTX was processing nearly $100 billion in trade volume every month at its peak.
According to the data from CIO FTX was processing nearly $100 billion in trade volumes every month at its peak. So how are crypto traders behaving after the demise of the crypto exchange? Well, let's find out joining us now to discuss is Kao Director of Research Clara Mali. Welcome back. Thank you. So you point out that FTX never captured more than single digits of market share. I don't know that's a that's not a lot is it but yet $100 billion in trade volume every month, how come only single digits? Yeah. So Binance, I mean has been globally dominant for many years now. So Binance, when FTX was still around, still had around 40 to 50% of global trade volumes. So I think in context, we're comparing it to Binance, which is a bit hard. Um FTX still had massive trade volumes. You saw nearly $100 billion every single month, but this was ultimately on par with exchanges like OK X and also coin base. Um So even though FTX never did become the global leader, I would say their marketing budget was enormous and at times, it almost felt like FTX had a stronger name brand than Binance, even if they never actually claimed that much volume relative to that exchange. So you, you also note that the uh crypto market is uh is still feeling the after effects from, from the collapse of, of, of FTX. Uh A A and as we just discussed in the previous segment since FTX uh collapsed and, and you have all these questions, we, we're seeing fi five M five year, if not a whole decade lows in in crypto trading and particularly in Bitcoin. What's going on here? Yeah. So in the aftermath of the FTX collapse, this was like in the days that followed Cicco research, we noticed something that we dubbed the Alameda Gap. So the Alameda Gap refers to the absence of liquidity on Cryptocurrency exchanges. And by liquidity, we are defining that as what's happening on the order books. So market depth. So essentially what we saw is market makers en masse essentially pulled out all of their orders from global crypto exchanges, not just FTXFTX had collapsed, but this was across all markets globally. And here we have this very powerful chart that essentially shows the Alameda gap. It shows market depth across all exchanges in Caicos coverage. We have nearly 100 exchanges and here we've aggregated like 30 cryptocurrencies um order books for this one chart. And what we're seeing is that there's less than half market depth post collapse than what there was pre collapse. And over the past year, there has been virtually no change in market depth, meaning that essentially these market makers, they pulled out of the markets and then a lot of them just didn't return. And we already are seeing reports about that, especially in the United States. You have big market makers announcing that they're pulling out of us markets and that they're winding down some of their alt coin trading activities. This is also in response to what we're seeing on the regulatory side. But ultimately, it's all linked to the post FTX landscape. So we're gonna get into this in our next segment. But I do want to hear your view because I know does a lot of kind of global research, you know, FTX was not a US exchange, right? And they had users all over the world. I'm just curious if you guys have looked at sort of like the global distribution of users and the global ramifications of the collapse. Definitely. So I think almost similar to Binance, while FTX was a global exchange and same with how Binance is a global exchange, there are still ways for us users to access these exchanges. And I think that actually came out in the aftermath of the FTX collapse. Sort of all this information about sort of how these trading firms work and how it's actually possible even if you're based in the US, whatever you set up like offshore entities to trade on these exchanges. So I think the US is still like a big, big market for crypto activity, even if like they're not technically trading on these exchanges, they are sort of by these intermediaries. So we're still seeing a lot of impact of this FTX collapse also in the United States, even if it wasn't necessarily in a US based exchange. Yeah, if you look at, if you just, if you look at the chart from the bankruptcy trial, like a lot of the user distribution was like in the Cayman Islands and stuff and I, I assume that's kind of what you may be referring to. Right. Like some of these offshore entities that may or may not have been, you know, us investors. Yes. Exactly.


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Economics of the madhouse: ALEX BRUMMER analyses Amazon becoming a broadcaster of live Premier League football
The arrival of Amazon as a broadcaster of live Premier League football is being greeted in the sports world as the second coming. But far from unalloyed triumph, it could well turn out to be a poisoned chalice.
There is already evidence the viewing public is fed up to the back teeth with the high cost of subscription football.
You have to be an extraordinarily devoted fan and have a high income to spend the equivalent of £95 a game to watch Huddersfield Town play from your sofa. You'd have to fork out up to £1,000 in annual subscriptions to BT and Sky, and even then just 11 of their matches were screened live last season. Indeed, the extravagant prices paid by the pay-TV broadcasters to show live football represent the economics of the madhouse.
Amazon has purchased its first Premier League television rights package for 2019 to 2022
In BT's case, the £3billion of investor money thrown at football broadcasting rights so far, and more over the next three years, contributed to the fall of Gavin Patterson. The company's new hardline chairman Jan du Plessis is clear: BT's role is to be a UK infrastructure champion providing super-fast broadband speeds to customers.
He wants BT to have a laser-like focus on improving appalling customer service rather than taking on the giants of broadcasting.
Patterson initially saw rights to Premier League football as a means to dominate the broadband market by offering customers free access. But a lack of world-class broadcast speeds meant the strategy flopped.
Amazon is becoming an increasing force and already has rights for ATP and US Open tennis
Richard Scudamore described Amazon as 'an exciting new partner for the Premier League'
As a result, BT has had to start charging for football rights, sneakily raising prices each year – much to the anger of fans.
So could the seemingly endless demand for football be on the decline? In the recent auction of rights to Premier League games from 2019-22, the price dropped to £4.46billion (still ridiculous) from £5.1billion.
Fast-changing technology could end the golden age of football broadcasting. With the arrival of Amazon, which plans to live-stream matches, the Premier League has let the fox into the chicken coop.
Amazon has already outbid Sky for exclusive rights to the men's tennis tour, and an annual subscription to Amazon Prime of £79 is a huge bargain compared to a far higher subscription to Sky. Suddenly, online viewing of sports looks like the future.
Pity Gavin Patterson and the BT board didn't see it coming.
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Thousands of online customers have their accounts deactivated after user details were leaked and posted
Tesco has been forced to deactivate the online accounts of several thousand of its customers after details of their accounts were posted following a security breach of its website.
The company confirmed that over 2,000 customers had had their usernames and passwords stolen and posted on popular text-sharing site Pastebin yesterday.
The hackers are thought to have used data stolen in several other high-profile security attacks to access the Tesco site, focusing on customers using the same usernames and passwords for various websites. Overall, they were able to access details from 2,239 accounts and make off with their stored Clubcard vouchers.
Customers whose details were included on the list confirmed that their accounts had now been deactivated when contacted by the BBC.
“We take the security of our customers’ data extremely seriously and are urgently investigating these claims,” a Tesco spokesperson said of the attack.
“We have contacted all customers who may have been affected and are committed to ensuring that none of them miss out as a result of this. We will issue replacement vouchers to the very small number who are affected.”
In a blog post, security researcher Troy Hunt outlined how the attackers could have accessed the data, stating that Tesco’s approach to security ‘provides numerous avenues for attackers to easily verify the existence of accounts and then establish their passwords’.
The Tesco website apparently has several shortcomings regarding security, allowing users multiple attempts at logging in to their account using the same email address. Hunt also revealed how the site allows access to password reset options with only an email address, meaning hackers could easily change a users’ password to access their account.
The attack is not the first time that Tesco customers have had their online accounts hacked by cyber-criminals. In February 2013 hundreds of Tesco Clubcard owners reported that their loyalty card accounts had been accessed and hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers stolen. The company has also encountered several security issues with its website, where an XSS flaw left customers at risk of having their accounts hijacked.
Earlier this month, Tesco accidentally revealed hundreds of customer email addresses as it attempted to apologise for a pricing error by including all recipients’ email addresses in the ‘to’ field.
It’s also not the first time Hunt has criticised the grocery giant. In 2012, he found that Tesco sent passwords to users in plain text potentially exposing them to third parties.
The hack is the latest to affect a major retail chain, with US store Target recently suffering a high-profile hack which saw 70 million of its users having their credit card details stolen. The company has since looked to tighten up its security protocols, and also offered affected customers one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection.
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Alibaba mum on Singles Day sales tally, says in line with 2021
By Casey Hall
SHANGHAI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group 9988.HK opted not to disclose the final sales tally of its annual Singles Day shopping festival for the first time since it started the event in 2009, saying only that results were in line with last year.
Last year's 8.5% rise in gross merchandise value (GMV) for Alibaba's platforms had been its lowest yet, following a 26% jump in 2020. Before 2020, the festival was a one-day event.
The e-commerce platform said in a press release early on Saturday that the event had "delivered results in line with last year's GMV performance despite macro challenges and COVID-related impact."
Growth has been slowing in recent editions of Singles Day - the world's biggest online shopping festival that has, despite its name, evolved into a lengthy event and become a barometer of Chinese retail demand.
Other indicators showed that Chinese consumers clutched their wallets tight this year and continued seeking relatively economical home brands over pricier expensive labels, as consumer sentiment has been hit by stringent COVID-19 curbs and a sharply slowing economy.
Singles Day growth this year had been widely predicted at flat to low single digits.
Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment on its decision to avoid releasing figures on the 11-day sales event ended that ended on Friday.
Yang Zengdong, 40, a teacher in Shanghai, said she had second thoughts about participating in Singles Day at all this year, but when the final sales period started on Thursday evening, she ended up purchasing about the same amount as last year.
"I think it's something deep in the mind of Chinese people that if you don't buy on Singles Day, you are missing out on an opportunity," she said.
Consultancy Syntun on Saturday estimated Alibaba and other Chinese e-commerce firms holding Singles Day shopping events together logged 934 billion yuan in sales, up 2.9%.
Citi analysts said this week they were conservatively forecasting Alibaba's GMV for the event to range from 545 billion yuan to 560 billion yuan ($75 billion to $77 billion), with growth of 0.9% to 3.6%.
The e-commerce giant has for over a year toned down hype around the event as Chinese President Xi Jinping increasingly emphasises "common prosperity" - a push that seeks to eliminate growing wealth inequities and clamp down on what the Communist Party sees as excessive behaviour.
Alibaba did not hold its usual celebrity-studded gala this year or any in-person media events, citing the pandemic.
The company's Tmall marketplace offered Singles Day deals on more than 17 million products, 3 million more than last year, with a record-matching 290,000 brands participating.
Alibaba did not say which brands sold well but said sales of high-tech beauty devices, such as gadgets to cool and lift facial skin, had surged some 5,570% from last year, while carpet cleaners and smart kitchen appliances had been selling extremely well.
Rival JD.com also did not publish GMV or sales growth but said Apple Inc AAPL.O sold over 1 billion yuan ($140 million) worth of products in the first minute of the event's final sales period on Thursday evening, which is marked by deeper discounts.
During those 10 minutes, turnover for 87 international beauty brands, including Estee Lauder EL.N , L'Oreal OPREP.PA and L'Occitane 0973.HK , tripled from last year, JD.com said. ($1 = 7.1066 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Posh ice cream, craft beer in vogue as Chinese downsize their
love of luxury
Chinese brands outnumber foreign names among Singles Day best-sellers
Reporting by Casey Hall and Sophie Yu; Editing by Brenda Goh, Edwina Gibbs, Richard Chang, Cynthia Osterman and William Mallard
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.


text: NEW YORK (AP) ¿ Shares of ScanSource Inc. advanced Thursday after the distributor of bar-code scanners and other electronics gave a better-than-expected revenue outlook for the fiscal first quarter. The Greenville, S.C.-based company's shares rose $1.33, or 4.5 percent, to $30.87 in midday trading. Earlier, the stock hit a 52-week high of $32.40. ScanSource expects to post sales of $480 million to $488 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting, on average, sales of $474.1 million. The company's earlier outlook was for sales between $445 million and $465 million. KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Anthony Kure, who rates ScanSource "Hold," said the higher revenue outlook implies higher earnings per share for the quarter and for the full year. "Despite the positive revenue revision, we still think the shares are fairly valued at this point given the stock's recent performance," the analyst wrote in a note to investors.


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Sissian Kasbaryan to head Istanbul office
MOSCOW — Discovery Networks is opening an office in Istanbul, reflecting the growing importance of Turkey as a market for international television outlets.
Sissian Kasbaryan will head the office as commercial director for Discovery Networks Turkey, reporting to Phillip Luff, VP and country manager for emerging business.
Kasbaryan, who brings more than 10 years’ experience in business development, will work closely with Discovery’s Turkish advertising sales division to drive advertising sales and brand partnerships in the region, Discovery said in a statement.
The London-based executive will move to Istanbul full-time in January.
Luff said: “The opening of our Istanbul office enables us to get closer to our Turkish business and we look forward to building on the strong foundations we’ve put in place and taking these partnerships forward as the pay TV market (there) continues to develop.”


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During a recent interview with a Korean news outlet, the T-ara members were asked how they were able to come together even though the members were under different companies in the past few months. #tara #jiyeon #qri #hyomin #eunjung #TIKITAKA #ALLKILL
T-ara member Hyomin has officially launched her own clothing line, and Jiyeon and Girls' Day Minah have already purchased one of the items each. #TaraHyomin #Tara #TaraJiyeon #GirlsDayMinah #BangMinah #HyominClothingBrand
Jiyeon defeated new K-pop idols with her unrivaled beauty and undying popularity! Along with her, GOT7, IZ*ONE, MCND, and more also won!
With or without make-up, these K-pop idols still look stunning! In fact, the following artists' faces are completely heavenly without any enhancement, as their birthmarks, freckles, and facial flaws are actually making them more unique!
T-ara will have a comeback in November with a new mini album and a title track from Double Sidekick. Also, Jiyeon will star in new web drama "My Runway" as a lead.
T-Ara's Jiyeon is following the latest in a trend of girl group members promoting individually.


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“The time is out of joint,” said Hamlet of Denmark in what is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.
Some 420 years later, Danish exporters are facing their own potential mini tragedy, albeit a political and economic one in light of Brexit.
“The higher trade costs will have a negative impact on Danish exports and imports, and are therefore expected to lead to lower Danish GDP compared to if the UK remained in the EU,” states a June 2017 Danish foreign office analysis of Brexit’s impact on Denmark.
“Ultimately we have to try and reduce the potential damage to the Danish economy as much as possible,” Anders Ladefoged, director of European affairs at the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), told The Local in an exclusive interview discussing Brexit.
Danish exports to the UK in 2015 totalled 77 billion Danish kroner (€10.35 billion), according to figures from Denmark’s national office of statistics. This powerful trade relationship means the UK is Denmark’s fourth largest export destination: at least 45,000 Danish jobs are linked to exports to the UK.
“The main sectors affected by Brexit in Denmark are food stuff, mainly meat and dairy, but also green technology, construction products, machinery, transport and Danish design products,” says Ladefoged. “Danish food companies are particularly worried about Brexit.”
At least 25 per cent of all imported British pork products come from Denmark, reports the BBC. Danish bacon exporters are particularly worried about the impact Brexit could have on exports to the UK.
Yet while many EU companies with a considerable market share in the UK are exploring new markets and reducing their UK footprint, Danish pork giant Danish Crown is upscaling, rather than downscaling, its investment and operational capacity in the UK in preparation for Brexit.
In September 2017, Danish Crown bought British pig producer Easey Holdings. “With this purchase, we insure to some extent our owners' values against some of the consequences Brexit can have for Danish Crown,” said CEO Jais Valeur in a company statement at the time. “Because we cannot earn the money we have previously exported to the UK, we have now secured the opportunity to raise Tulip Ltd's (ED: a Danish Crown subsidiary) earnings through local produce,” he added.
The picture is bleaker for other sectors. “There would be lower tariffs on machinery, but this sector would be – and has already been – affected by a weaker pound. It has become hard for this sector to compete in the UK with local producers because a 10 per cent margin can make you irrelevant,” Ladefoged told The Local.
Ladefoged however is reluctant to make generalisations about how Brexit will affect Danish industry. “It is very difficult to say anything general about how Brexit will affect different sectors. When we talk to our members, we can get 20 different sets of concerns or feedback about Brexit,” he said.
The Confederation of Danish Industry represents more than 10,000 Danish companies and has offices in 10 countries worldwide. Some of the trade group’s members – 40 per cent of which are in manufacturing – do have specific concerns.
“A major concern for the green technology sector is: Will there be a level playing field? For Danish design, the issue of IP protection is important. Some design companies are worried that their products will no longer be protected by EU regulation,” adds Ladefoged.
Denmark has always been one of the UK’s strongest allies in the EU – both have a very laissez faire attitude towards the economy, favour a reduced EU budget and neither are in the eurozone – and the UK’s departure represents the loss of a good friend for Denmark.
“From the Danish side, there is no doubt that we would rather have seen Britain not leave the EU. But now we have to look forward,” concludes the Danish foreign office’s assessment of the consequences of Brexit.
The Scandinavian country is unlikely however to go against the Franco-German resistance to British PM Theresa May’s latest proposal to keep Britain in the Single Market without freedom of movement.
Ladefoged says that in practical terms the proposal is unviable.
“It’s not that easy to separate the four freedoms. What are goods and what are services? You don’t sell a washing machine, you sell clean clothes at a given moment,” the DI director said.
“Separating goods from services doesn’t reflect the realities of companies,” he added.
Danish food and dairy producers are likely to continue to invest in local facilities in the UK to mitigate the effects of Brexit. Some sectors will be forced to explore new markets.
“Small companies will simply move their customer base to the Single Market,” predicts Ladefoged.
Whatever the outcome, Denmark is perhaps more prepared for Brexit than any other nation – and has been since hours after the Brexit referendum ended.
“The day after the referendum, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced the establishment of a cross-ministerial task force. Subsequently, a special Brexit secretariat was created headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” wrote experts Jesper Dahl Kelstrup and Mads Dagnis Jensen in an analysis piece published in March this year. That analysis suggests Denmark could lose 0.5 to 2 per cent of GDP because of Brexit.
“We are extremely prepared for this process,” says DI's Ladefoged. “We have spent a lot of resources on it because of interest from our members. We are in contact with ministries and have participated in the cross-ministerial task force. It has resulted in a very substantial catalogue of issues.”


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Tauranga's Harvey Bryant is one of those friendly, unshakeable entrepreneurs.
He's been a sheep and deer farmer, a kiwifruit grower, the owner of Tauranga Hire Co, and has operated other businesses producing air freshener aerosol cans, trench-digging machinery and granite benchtops.
Now, he is close to selling pure spring water to the Chinese. The size of the China market doesn't put him off.
"I was surprised to find that their cities are more westernised than I thought they would be," said Mr Bryant, a member of the Tauranga delegation to the World Trade Expo in Shanghai and to sister city Yantai on the north east coast.
"The Chinese are leading the world in town planning and technology, and their industry is incredible.
"I didn't realise how many big companies are rooted here and how much money comes in from overseas to boost their economy and employment," he said.
"Seeing Shanghai and Yantai, the Chinese are 20 years more advanced than I thought. The country is being run like a corporate entity."
Mr Bryant said smaller New Zealand companies may have been put off by the volumes the Chinese talk about.
"They can chew through a million (manufacturing) units before morning tea," he said. "But it's only degrees of scale."
Mr Bryant, chairman of Aquasplash, said small and medium-sized New Zealand companies can do business in China if they are on the ground and building contacts and relationships.
He and his general manager, Ed Baggaley, proved that in Shanghai.
Aquasplash, with Tauranga directors, produce the Te Waihou Reserve brand from the Blue Spring near Putaruru, and their pure water, bottled in a state-of-the-art factory in Putaruru, is being served for VIP functions in the New Zealand Pavilion at the World Trade Expo.
Two business brokers, who studied at Waikato University, found out they were in town and met them on a Sunday morning - one of them travelled three hours to Mr Bryant and Mr Baggaley's hotel.
It turned out that one of the broker's uncles operates a supermarket chain in the Shanghai district and he wanted to stock quality New Zealand mineral water.
The brokers talked to an associate in Wellington and he put them on to Aquasplash, knowing they were in Shanghai.
A delighted Mr Bryant received a surprise call, and a potential deal.
"The brokers spoke good English and had a New Zealand connection.
You normally have to explain what you are selling but they knew, and we went straight to base two in the meeting. It was great," he said.
The brokers initially wanted to negotiate a supply agreement for three supermarkets and they went away to compare and analyse prices. Mr Bryant expects to hear from them within three weeks.
"We would be four times the price of domestic mineral water in the supermarkets - but ours is pure, not engineered," he said.
"Evian, from France, is selling for 9 yuan (nearly $2) a bottle, and we can be around the same price.
"The younger people here are understanding water better and are inquiring about a quality product that demands a higher price, like organically grown food. We can be in the ballpark and compete against Evian in the supermarkets," said Mr Bryant.
He said there was still a process of negotiation to go through, "but the volume [required] could change our price".
If the Chinese order comes through, Aquasplash will produce the water in 500ml plastic bottles under a new brand.
The Te Waihou Reserve, in glass bottles, will remain at the premium end of the global market, going into hotels, restaurants and other food services.
Mr Baggaley left Shanghai for meetings in Beijing, Hong Kong and Japan as Aquasplash, now ready to export, develop distribution networks.
In Yantai, Mr Bryant visited the Changyu Mineral Water Company, and he was interested to learn that its water came from a bore 1500m in the ground and is drawn up through saltwater.
The water undergoes reverse osmosis to build it back up to drinking standard - in other words, engineered water.
Aquasplash's water comes 100 per cent pure from the Blue Spring, and there's hardly any processing.
"We know there is space over here for clean, green, natural spring water in the premium niche market, and I'm absolutely sure we can sell ours," said Mr Bryant.
Aquasplash - its bottling plant is as hygienic as an operating theatre - has the capacity to fill one million bottles in a week, or 50 million in a year.
Mr Bryant moved to Tauranga at the end of 1967 after the family sheep farm at Kawhia was sold. He operated Tauranga Hire Co for 20 years before selling to Hirepool, and had 36ha in Katikati for kiwifruit and deer.
He lost his deer herd, and then marketed an air freshener aerosol can propelled by nitrogen.
It went into supermarkets throughout the country through the O Two business.
With an engineering bent, Mr Bryant then developed the Chain Trenching Machine and ran Trench-it Industries for 18 years. He also bought stone mason Pacific Stone and revitalised sales of its granite benchtops.
He sold it six years later and went into spring water. "I work on the principle that if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you are going to be successful, then you have to get a bloody nose along the way. But I hate to be beaten," said Mr Bryant.


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The announcement was made by incoming US editor-in-chief Katharine Viner.
The Guardian today announced that it has hired leading feminist writer and author Jessica Valenti as a columnist. The announcement was made by Guardian US editor-in-chief Janine Gibson.
Guardian News & Media today announced a series of senior editorial changes across its US, UK and Australian operations.
The Guardian today announced that it has hired Matt Sullivan (@sullduggery) as its US opinion editor. The announcement was made by Guardian US editor-in-chief Janine Gibson.
The Guardian today announced the opening of #GuardianGreenRoom, a multi-purpose interactive digital lounge housed inside one of the shipping containers that makes up Rough Trade's new NYC store.
The Guardian US today announced a three-year partnership with SC Johnson to showcase how reinstating values at the heart of business practices can create a positive impact on society


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Ford Motor Company has announced changes at top management within the Volvo Car Corporation. Stephen Odell has become the new president and Chief Executive Officer, covering the role left by Frederik Arp.
Operational management will be handed to the 53 year-old on the first of October, who will encounter the arduous task of re-organising the company’s finances. The aim is to return to generating profits as soon as possible, resisting the advance of Mercedes, BMW and Audi in the premium segment.
Odell has already performed in the rebirth of Ford Europe, now flowering, and will attempt to repeat his efforts at Volvo, where he will work together with Lewis Booth, vice president of Ford Motor Company. His aim is to highlight the historic values of the company, creating strong products characterised by safety, environmental friendliness and Scandinavian style. Volvo should soon see greater demarcation between its own style and the Ford brand.


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In a New York Times article titled “Steve Jobs Was a Low Tech Parent“, Nick Bilton describes how many technology entrepreneurs actually strictly limit their kids’ access to high tech gadgets. Soon after the iPad was released, Steve Jobs told Nick that his kids hadn’t yet used the devices, revealing that he limited how much technology the kids used at home. Nick goes on to say:
Since then, I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say similar things: they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends.
I was perplexed by this parenting style. After all, most parents seem to take the opposite approach, letting their children bathe in the glow of tablets, smartphones and computers, day and night.
Yet these tech C.E.O.’s seem to know something that the rest of us don’t.
Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired and now chief executive of 3D Robotics, a drone maker, has instituted time limits and parental controls on every device in his home. “My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules,” he said of his five children, 6 to 17. “That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids.”
Indeed, maybe they know something we don’t.


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Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo flew to the U.S., the largest automobile market in the world. He chose that country as the first place of his management by wandering around this year. Since Chung has led the global auto market with drastic winning moves so far, this visit is attracting attention.
For his five-day trip, Chung got on a plane bound for the U.S. on March 24 in order to visit Hyundai and Kia Motors’ sales and production subsidiaries and check its marketing strategies in the U.S. The country is an important market in where global automakers’ competitiveness can be recognized. Particularly, the vehicle demand in the U.S. is expected to increase this year, along with China, regardless of the slump in emerging markets. Accordingly, the competition in the market will grow.
This year will be challenging for Hyundai and Kia Motors due to the triple handicap of the weak euro and yen, the growing pickup truck market, and a product lineup shortage.
Due to the fall in oil prices, the demands of full-size SUVs and pickup trucks are increasing in the U.S. Therefore, Hyundai and Kia Motors, whose lineups are mostly sedans, are expected to struggle with the change in the market.
“The key to customer satisfaction is quality. We need to have top quality, which can dominate our competitors,” said Chung. This is what he ordered during his visit in the U.S. He also said, “This year, we need to prepare carefully from the pilot production of new cars before mass production. In particular, we also need to make multi-pronged efforts to secure the quality competitiveness of our cooperative companies.” His winning move this time is the top-class quality. It seems that Chung is planning to tap into the U.S. market with the quality to satisfy customers.
Indeed, Chairman Chung has led the market change with his drastic winning moves in every important inflection point of the global market. When the sales of Hyundai Motor in the U.S. dropped to 90,000 units in 1998, he introduced a 10-year or 100,000-mile powertrain warranty in 1999, based on the confidence of quality, and made a breakthrough for U.S. sales.
In 2009 when other automakers reduced their marketing due to the rapid drop in demand for cars from the global financial crisis, Hyundai Motor overcame the difficulties with an innovative marketing strategy of the assurance program.
The program promises customers that Hyundai would buy back their vehicles if they lost their jobs, went bankrupt, or became disabled within a year. As it eased customer anxiety about the future, sales went up by 9 percent year-on-year even at the moment that U.S. industry demand for the year decreased by 21 percent.
Also, Chung is planning to ask its local employees in the U.S. to make every effort to put quality first.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor sold 726,000 units last year, while Kia Motors sold 580,000 units. Both companies are breaking annual sales records every year. The company also aims to sell 1.41 million units this year, an 8 percent increase from last year.


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Fort Myers, FL – Polygon Solutions Inc. has announced it is joining the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The innovative Florida company manufacturers rotary broaching tools, used in CNC machines to make bone screws and extremely accurate aerospace fasteners. The partnership joins the active small business to the largest voice in the national conversation about the value of manufacturing.
U.S. manufacturers are responsible for the majority of research and development in the nation, and drive more innovation than any other sector. Polygon Solution is only four years old, but has won the nationally recognized ML100 award for Innovative Enterprise and regional awards for Market Problem Solving and Technology Transformation. Polygon also continues to release new rotary broaching products every year, increasing in size and employees.
In fact, the need for skilled workers is what brought the two entities together. Despite the fact that manufacturers in the United States are some of the most productive in the world, with greater worker productivity than any other major manufacturing economy; sobering statistics about the need for skilled workers are beginning to impact small businesses like Polygon. Three years ago, they decided to join the grassroots effort designed to attract new workers to the industry called Manufacturing Day.
The National Association of Manufacturers is a co-producer of the Manufacturing Day event. NAM represents 11,000 companies, and is the nation’s largest industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing Day is designed to open the doors of manufacturing facilities to students and the public, and help them to see the opportunity they have to join a more modern manufacturing experience than in years past.
Polygon Solutions has participated in Manufacturing Day every year since it began. It has partnered with a local Lee County High School in Southwest Florida to bring students into their facility for a manufacturing presentation and tour. Attendance for the event has nearly doubled every year.
The joint effort is helping other businesses too. Neighboring Paver Motorcycles decided to join Polygons’ tour this year. After learning about innovative rotary broach tools, students were directed next door to learn how custom motorcycles are made. Most students admitted afterwards that although they hadn’t considered a career in manufacturing, they were more likely to after the tour.
Polygon credits much of its success to the relationships they’ve developed with various manufacturing associations. Other affiliations include the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA), the Southwest Regional Manufacturer’s Association (SRMA) and the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA). The broach manufacturer is now expecting to make further gains in exporting, tax issues and workforce development with the help of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).


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WhatsApp is back now back in the Windows Phone Store
The app the had been temporarily pulled from the Windows Phone Store, users were met by a message saying that the app was “no longer published.” At the time it was thought that this could be down to problems with the app’s compatibility with the Windows Phone 8.1 update. However, it’s now reported that in fact is was an issue with Windows Phone 8 and the GDR3 update that arrived previously.
These problems have been resolved though and the WhatsApp WP app returned to the Store yesterday (link below) as version 2.11.490.0. The update to the app does nOt appear to have brought any new features, but it’s good to know that it’s available to download once again.
Source Windows Phone Store


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With their wide, springy gait, ostriches can reach speeds of 40mph (70 km/h), covering up to 16ft (5 metres) in a single stride.
As a child, Keahi Seymour was fascinated by what appeared to be the effortless speed and agility of these creatures, making them the fastest running birds on the planet.
Now the San Francisco-based inventor has created a prototype gadget that he claims will allow humans to experience what it’s like to reach these incredible speeds.
Dubbed the ‘Bionic Boot’, the shoes have springs on the back designed to imitate the Achilles tendon of an ostrich or kangaroo, giving the wearer more down force when running.
Mr Seymour has been working on the boots for several years, and has already produced dozens of prototypes.
Last month, he took his Bionic Boots to the Maker Faire in New York to demonstrate its capabilities.
In its current form, the device can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h) – or the same speed as a slow-moving car.


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LG Corp. doesn't do things small. The company is the world's largest maker of LED monitors and the second-biggest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions. It also is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones and front-loading washing machines sold in the U.S. Now, the 64-year-old South Korean conglomerate is taking aim at the top spot of the fragmented electric-vehicle battery market, where the competition includes fellow South Korean conglomerate Samsung, Japan's Panasonic and relative start-ups like A123 Systems and the automakers themselves.
The company’s LG Chem division last week opened what it said is the world's largest electric-vehicle battery-making plant in Ochang, South Korea. The factory will produce enough lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 electric-drive vehicles, according to Bloomberg News. LG Chem, which makes batteries for a number of electric-drive vehicles including General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid-electric (PHEV), is looking to boost annual revenue from EV batteries to 4 trillion won ($3.67 billion) by 2015, when the company expects to have 25 percent of the worldwide EV-battery market. With another South Korean plant and a U.S. factory scheduled to open by the end of next year, LG Chem will be able to produce enough batteries for 350,000 vehicles by 2013, according to Bloomberg.
"They’re definitely the mover and the shaker right now in the lithium-ion battery market," said John Gartner, senior analyst at Pike Research. "They have strong relationships with GM, Ford and Hyundai, and their technology is viewed as being very stable, safe, and reliable, so it’s not out of the questions that they could reach that goal."
LG's strategy may be a sound one, given electric-drive vehicle projections. Last year, Pike estimated that global sales of PHEVs and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) will surge to more than 1 million units in 2015 from less than 250,000 this year. That said, consolidation isn't guaranteed in an EV-battery market where technology continues to rapidly evolve. For instance, last month, the U.S. Energy Department and an automaker group that includes GM, Ford and Chrysler awarded lithium-ion battery-maker A123 Systems a contract worth $8 million to further develop so-called nanophosphate systems that will produce lighter, cheaper and more powerful batteries for plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles. "It’s a little premature for anyone to be beating their chest unless they have a real corner on the technology," said Philip Gott, managing director at IHS Automotive. "Even GM's hedging its bets."
Additionally, the global lithium-ion battery market will always be bifurcated because automakers such as Toyota and Nissan are almost guaranteed to stay with fellow Japanese companies like Panasonic and GS Yuasa when it comes to battery supply, said both Gartner and Gott. Finally, some automakers are looking to make electric-drive powertrain components themselves in order to gain better cost and operations controls as production of alternative-fueled vehicles expands. Daimler AG and Evonik in 2008 formed a battery-making joint venture that starting next year will supply lithium-ion batteries for Daimler’s Smart Fortwo ED BEV.
Still, LG appears to have the resources and agreements with automakers to take the lead. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2010, LG Chem’s net income rose 34 percent from a year earlier to 1.76 trillion won ($1.62 billion) as revenue increased 26 percent to 14.5 trillion won ($13.3 billion). The company was tapped by GM early in 2009 to make battries for the Volt and later that year said it would invest $300 million in a Michigan lithium-ion battery plant that would be opened by 2012. LG Chem also agreed to start a battery-making joint venture with South Korean automaker Hyundai in 2009. And Ford chose LG Chem unit Compact Power to make battery packs for the 2011 Ford Focus Electric.
Regardless of who takes what market share, LG Chem’s investments are likely to help push down the costs of EV batteries and shorten the amount of time it will take for electric-drive vehicles to become cost-competitive with their internal combustion engine counterparts. IHS’s Gott estimated that battery costs could drop by as much as 50 percent by the end of the decade while internal combustion engine costs rise as automakers stretch for better fuel efficiency to meet progressively more stringent federal greenhouse-gas emissions requirements. Pike’s Gartner was even more optimistic, estimating that lithium-ion battery costs will fall by as much as 10 percent a year. “LG will contribute to that, as will other companies that are starting to build to scale,” said Gartner.


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Daufuskie Island Rum Company makes “America’s best breakfast rum,” according to a recent article on Vice.com.
The article — headlined “America’s Best Breakfast Rum Comes From a Remote, Alligator-Infested Island” — details reporter Natalie B. Compton’s trek to the Beaufort County distillery that opened 2 1/2 years ago on the island that’s accessible only by boat.
She ends her tour of the distillery with a taste test of three rums and a cocktail, which the Legislature changed state law to allow earlier this year.
One highlight, she reports, is the distillery’s Kona Edition.
Associate distiller Matt Clark explains how that’s made: “Fifty pounds of medium roast Hawaiian coffee beans sit in the barrel for two full weeks. We cold brew a coffee with rum instead of water.”
One Facebook commenter on ViceLand’s page offered this justification for rum with breakfast: “Drinking before Noon makes you a pirate NOT an alcoholic.”
This isn’t the only time coffee and rum have been paired by a Beaufort County business.
In June, Bluffton’s Corner Perk sold coffee made with beans aged for about two months in an emptied rum barrel at the Daufuskie Island distillery. The resulting beverage, available at the coffee shop for a limited time, had a slight aftertaste of rum — “like a rum cake,” coffee roaster Heather Watson told The Island Packet at the time.
During the summer, Hilton Head Distillery debuted its Mountain Peak Espresso Rum, made in-house using coffee beans from Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. The distillery’s website says it appeals to coffee and dessert lovers alike.
Lisa Wilson: 843-706-8103


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Want to play the newest Magic the Gathering video game, but want to be able to do it on the go? Do you wish your game was more portable? Ever wondered if it was really possible to play card games on motorcycles? (assuming you’re riding in a sidecar?) Well good news is on the way from Wizards of the Coast. Duels of the Planewalkers 2013, the third instalment in the DotP series is now available for the first time on Ipad, as well as the standard digital download releases on Xbox, PS3 and PC. In addition to this first time release, fans of the trading card game will be able to get a sneak peek at the 2013 core decks before physical release. The offical release statement by Wizards of the Coast can be found below:
Wizards of the Coast has unleashed Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 on iPad for the first time, along with Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PC/Steam® and PlayStation® Network.* Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is the first major release from Magic: The Gathering this winter, kicking off the Magic 2013 campaign that entices players to “Face A Greater Challenge” against the ultimate evil mastermind of the Multiverse, dragon Planeswalker Nicol Bolas!
Beginning today, Duels 2013 players will get the first look at approximately 100 cards that will be featured in the Magic 2013 Core Set launching July 13, 2012. In addition, with the purchase of Duels 2013, players receive a code to redeem an exclusive six-card booster pack – including a platform-specific promo card – at participating Wizards Play Network hobby stores.
“Today kicks off our summer-long Magic 2013 experience, and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Elaine Chase, Brand Director of Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. “Whether you’re new to Magic or just starting out, the integration between Duels 2013 and the Magic 2013 Core Set represents a seamless way for players to experience Magic however and wherever they want.”
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is the latest edition of the award-winning video game title, which was recently named one of PC Gamer’s Top 100 Games of All Time, and number four on the list of The 15 Best Games For Your Laptop.
*Launch timing may vary by platform and region. Only Steam platform available in China


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Other Views: Responsible e-cig regulations
E-cigarettes could turn out to be either a savior that helps addicted smokers quit or a lure that hooks a whole new generation on nicotine.
While science tries to decode those conflicting signals, the federal government took the responsible step Thursday to regulate electronic cigarettes in a way that tries to head off the worst outcome while still allowing potential benefits of vaping to emerge.
The new regulations, to go into effect in August, would ban sales to minors, require warning labels, ban the distribution of free samples and, most important, require makers of e-cigarettes that hit the market after Feb. 15, 2007, to go through a government approval process.
Most e-cigarettes - whether made by tobacco giants or mom-and-pop stores - will fall under the stricture, giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to look at everything from ingredients to health risks.
- USA Today


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Criterion & Poor’s requirements for preliminary addition in the index includes positive profits for the most current quarter and also for the amount of one of the most recent four quarters. But some financiers want direct exposure to specific stocks as they shoot for large gains. Your ideal way to buy semiconductors might be SOXX, with its diversity as well as some exposure to American depositary receipts of non-U.S. Everspin offers a vast array of businesses, including well lots of well-known business, such as International Organization Machines, Dell Technologies, Cisco Systems, Inc as well as Honeywell International chip.
The chip manufacturing team presently places a rather strong No. 46 out of 197 market groups that IBD tracks. The fabless chipmaker team rates No. 63 and the chip equipment team rates No. 65. The new factories are good news for semiconductor funding devices suppliers such as Applied Products and Lam Research, D.A. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes mirror professions reported through Nasdaq only.
A semiconductor firm is a company involved in the design and construction of semiconductors and also semiconductor tools, such as integrated circuits. These gadgets and circuits can be discovered in hundreds of electronic products. This report determines the top-ranked semiconductor stocks for a number of various ratings classifications.
It concentrates on item design and also growth services varying from Chip Style to Equipment Growth. The Company has seen growing prices YoY for lasting tasks which can be a factor for problem 반도체 테마주. The key goal of presenting the system is to develop a semiconductor community in the nation. It will supply financial aid in type of aids to the producers of semiconductors.
But with high-end pc gaming computer systems already quickly costing well over $10,000 sometimes, firms have to discover a method to keep costs down while accelerating user experience. Still, current concerns have not quit corporations and also investors alike from putting billions of dollars right into the metaverse. And considering the gigantic quantity of investment and hype bordering this burgeoning area, something feels certain– like it or otherwise, the period of the metaverse is coming.
Over the long term, however, as demand for semiconductor chips remains to edge up over time, purchasing these building blocks of innovation will likely remain to be profitable. And behind monetary stamina and also profits momentum is boosting need for semiconductors worldwide in the type of a one-two punch. All of this makes KLAC one of the very best semiconductor supplies moving forward. With every one of these advancements necessary for the metaverse to reach its full commercial potential, there are plenty of chances for well-positioned firms to benefit. Below are 12 supplies that Nigam as well as his team recognized as their top picks in the hardware and semiconductor group.


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Samsung Music Hub Gives Users Access to a Galaxy of Tunes
- Monday, May 28th, 2012
- Share this article:
As Samsung readies its Galaxy S III handset for launch, the OEM giant has released Music Hub, an integrated music service for its mobile devices, in Europe. The service, which will be initially available on the S III, is based on technology from mSpot, which was recently acquired by Samsung.
“We believe that today’s mobile market must have an open mobile music system – one that offers all kinds of services across different devices,” says mSpot CEO Daren Tsui. “Music Hub removes all the barriers to your music.”
Music Hub will be available in two versions, free and premium. As well as the Hub Store, a library of purchasable music, users who pay a monthly subscription – of £9.99 in the UK – can upload their digital music collection to be accessed from the cloud. The service will also feature personalised radio and recommendations functionality, though its currently unclear whether these will be paid features.
However, Giles Cottle, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, thinks Samsungs lack of true convergence between its mobile and TV OS might be the downfall of this latest offering. “iTunes has been a pillar on which Apple’s content and devices empire has been built. So it’s little surprise that Samsung, the world’s largest TV manufacturer and Apple’s chief contender in the mobile market, would want to follow suit,” says Cottle. “Yet where Apple is leagues ahead of all its competitors is in the quality of experience it offers across all of its devices, and how well those devices work together. Without such a cross-device experience, Music Hub will simply be another paid-subscription and cloud music service in a market that is already starting to feel more than a little crowded.”


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driving the day
1. Thank you, SAMR, may I have another?
On Saturday, China’s antitrust watchdog (SAMR) slapped Alibaba with a record-setting fine for antitrust violations.
The damage: A cool RMB 18.2 billion
- After a four-month investigation, SAMR found that Alibaba had abused its dominant market position to force merchants to choose between Ali’s online platforms and those of its competitors.
But there’s less than meets the eye to this eye-watering figure:
- According to China’s Anti-Monopoly Law, SAMR could have fined Alibaba up to 10% of its previous year’s revenue.
- Instead, the amount came out to just 4% of Alibaba’s 2019 domestic revenue.
- SAMR also could’ve confiscated Alibaba’s illegal gains from its monopolistic practice, but it didn’t.
State media said the fine represented tough love (People’s Daily):
- “This penalty…does not mean that China is changing its supportive attitude towards the development of the platform economy.”
Get smart: Chinese authorities want to make an example of Alibaba to send a message to other big tech firms.
- Still, that doesn’t mean regulators want to see Ali crushed.
Get smarter: The message is clear – Beijing will allow big tech companies to prosper as long as they toe the Party line.
2. LKQ highlights new economic uncertainties
On Friday, Premier Li Keqiang invited economists and business leaders to Zhongnanhai to discuss the economy.
The lucky invitees included (Gov.cn):
- Zhang Xiaojing, director of the Institute of Finance and Banking of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
- Peng Wensheng, chief economist of China International Capital Co. Ltd.
- Ma Bin, vice chairman of the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises
Also in attendance were top executives from:
- Baiyun Power Group
- Zhejiang China Commodities City Group Co. Ltd. the operator of Yiwu Market, the world’s largest market for daily goods
- Online travel agency Trip.com.
The timing of this year’s sit-down is interesting:
- Li usually hosts these meetings twice a year, once before the Politburo’s mid-year meeting on economy, and again just before the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of the year.
We’re not sure why Li is getting the posse together in early April, but recent inflationary pressure might have something to do with it:
- The invitees noted that rising commodity prices were increasing operating costs for companies.
- During the meeting, Li instructed officials to make adjustments to the raw materials market and ease rising commodity costs.
Get smart: These comments signal that upstream inflation is a burgeoning concern for policymakers.
- In fact, the Financial Stability and Development Committee discussed the same issue last Thursday (see April 9 Markets Dispatch).
Get smarter: Try as they might, policymakers can’t bring down commodity prices by fiat.
3. Xi and Li send instructions on telecom scams
On Thursday, Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang sent instructions to a national conference on combating telecom and online fraud.
Some context: Telecom and online fraud typically include scams where criminals set up call centers or web links to swindle victims out of money.
Some context: Telecom and online fraud is a major issue in China (Xinhua 2):
- In 2020 alone, over 360,000 scammers were apprehended, and the authorities recovered some RMB 187 billion in fraudulently obtained money.
- The amount that authorities were unable to recover is even higher.
Now Xi and Li want the government to do more to combat scammers (Xinhua):
- “Xi urged the regulators of sectors including finance, telecom, and the internet to shoulder primary responsibilities.”
- “Li urged continuous efforts to consolidate and push forward the achievements in combating telecom and online fraud in accordance with law.”
Get smart: Fighting petty scammers may seem like an odd use of top leaders’ time, but online and telecom fraud affects millions of people each year.
Get smarter: Many of the fraudsters are operating from outside of China itself, which makes enforcement difficult and international cooperation necessary.
4. Bottom-up brainstorming
On Friday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) jointly announced plans to put some pep in the step of China’s research and development (RD) ecosystem.
Some context: Policymakers have wanted to turbocharge China’s innovation capabilities for some time, but top-down policy initiatives haven’t delivered the desired results.
Under the new plan:
- Local governments will solicit fresh ideas on RD system reform from local innovation hubs, enterprises, universities, and research institutes.
- The NDRC and MoST will create and refine a national list of the best suggestions.
- Each year, local governments will be required to select and implement at least three measures from the list.
Officials that follow through win fun prizes:
- Local governments that successfully implement reform pilots will be given prioritized access to funding and support.
Get smart: Measures like these are yet another indication that China is pulling out all the stops to achieve breakthroughs in “choke point” technologies like high-end chips.
Irony alert: The fact that policymakers are trying to bolster bottom-up innovation via top-down directives illustrates one of the primary problems with China’s RD landscape.
5. Ain’t no party like a Party party, cuz a Party party don’t stop
Break out the confetti!
The Communist Party of China is gearing up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding, on July 1, 1921.
- On Sunday, Xinhua published a bunch of new details about the arrangements.
The thrilling theme:
- “Follow the Party forever.”
Subsidiary themes include:
- “The Communist Party is good.”
- “Socialism is good.”
- “Reform and opening up is good.”
- “The great motherland is good.”
- “All ethnic groups are good.”
The main event: Xi Jinping will give a speech on July 1, where he is expected to officially announce that China has built a “moderately well-off society in all respects” – a goal first set by Deng Xiaoping back in 1979.
That’s not all: Between now and May, leaders at all levels will study and promote key Party priorities, including:
- The outcomes of the Fifth Plenum
- The recently concluded poverty alleviation campaign
- The prospects for the 14th Five-Year Plan period
And after the party there’s an afterparty: A series of events focused on the successes of the Party and its bright future will continue throughout 2021.
Get smart: Anniversaries are important opportunities for China’s leaders to crow about their achievements.
- There’s basically no anniversary bigger than the CCP’s 100th birthday.


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Here’s a jaw dropping news for Pulsar fans, Eric Vas, President of Bajaj’s Motorcycle business has confirmed in an interview at Autocarpro, that there could be a Pulsar CS 200 as well in the pipeline.
Eric Vas has also claimed that they have scheduled only a single Pulsar launch for the remaining part of the 2015, which will probably be the new Pulsar NS150 that will launch soon. The NS150 will share the design from the Pulsar 200NS and the engine from the new Pulsar AS150, however, will be priced few thousand less than the Adventure 150!
Coming back to the topic, the Pulsar CS200 will definitely be get the Pulsar RS200’s underpinning. The engine on the RS200 is a fuel-injected 199.5cc single-cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled engine producing 24.5 PS at 9500 RPM and 18.6 Nm of torque at 8000 RPM, paired to a 6-speed gearbox. Like the RS200, the CS200 is likely to be available in two variants – ABS and non-ABS.
At the 2014 Auto Expo, Bajaj Auto excited Pulsar lovers by unveiling the Pulsar SS400 and CS400 performance motorcycles. Couple of months before, the company launched its first full-faired Pulsar the RS200 drawing design cues from the SS400. Now the company has hinted that there could be a derivative of the CS400 which is nothing but the CS200.
Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto has officially confirmed the launch of the CS400 and the SS400 within this financial year, probably by March-2016. Thus, the launch of CS200 will be scheduled for the second half of 2016 because the company has to calibrate the price of the CS200 wisely, such that pricing should be similar to that of the RS200.
Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto is also working on an updated Avenger which is scheduled to launch by end-2015.
To read more on Bajaj Pulsar CS, Click here
Also see: Bajaj Pulsar CS400 Power Cruiser
GALLERY: Bajaj Pulsar CS200


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GoPro has announced three new action cameras, the Hero7 Black, Hero7 Silver and Hero7 White in India following a leak that revealed all the specs of the new devices.
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GoPro, the company that popularised sports action cameras has announced three new additions to its portfolio. The GoPro Hero7 lineup includes the Hero7 Black, Hero7 Silver and Hero7 White. The cameras will go on sale globally on September 27 at Rs 37,000 for the Hero7 Black, Rs 28,000 for Hero7 Silver and Rs 19,000 for Hero7 White.
The GoPro Hero7 Black is the flagship camera in the new GoPro lineup, featuring several new features. It continues to use the same design as the GoPro Hero6 with a unibody design which eliminates the need for a case. The Hero7 Black shoots videos in multiple resolutions all the way up to 4K (at 60fps) and with frame rates going as high as 240fps (at 1080p), which is the same capabilities as last year’s Hero6 Black. However, the new trick here is the built-in electronic image stabilization which the company claims is “the best stabilization built into a camera yet.” They’re calling this new technology “Hypersmooth”. Other than that, the camera also features live-streaming, and HDR and RAW photo modes and a time-lapse mode.
The Hero7 Silver and Hero7 White are designed for newbies and as such, have a slightly more toned down feature set. The Hero7 Silver also shoots 4K video but tops out at 30fps while the Hero7 White has a maximum video resolution of 1080p. Neither of the cameras has super slow-motion capabilities. The two cameras also lack the Hypersmooth digital image stabilization capability.
GoPro is seeing the new Hero7 as a way to claw its way back into profitability, given that up until a few months ago, the company was open to being bought out. The Hero7 trio do seem to have a price point that will make them more appealing to a larger audience, but it remains to be seen whether the cameras will bring the company back to profitability.
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We are about leadership-the 9.9 kind! Building a leading media company out of India.And,grooming new leaders for this promising industry.


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Upscale Fashion brand; DUDUblack has entered into a much closer partnership with a new Chinese manufacturer to grow into Africa’s leading brand in fast fashion, a goal the brand has consistently pursued since its inception.
Speaking on the partnership, DUDUblack’s founder; Emeka Nwokocha revealed that the luxury clothing line is branching out into fast fashion after the likes of fashion giant; Zara, which will start with four new collections that will go public later this year.
“When it comes to manufacturing, China is the dream destination. Therefore, this partnership is necessary to think far and ahead to make plans that would make Africa’s clothing and textile business environment attractive and conducive for prospective business partners in the future,” Mr. Nwokocha stated.
RELATEDLY READ: Is China’s Relationship with Africa Under Threat?


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The European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda has told Web companies to come up with a do-not-track standard by mid-2012, or the Commission will have to impose new rules.
The European Parliament has approved new European Union-wide rules for online shopping.
India has issued digital identities to about 9.5 million people so far, and plans to step up enrollment to 1 million a day from October, the head of the agency issuing the biometric identities said on Thursday at a conference in Bangalore.
More than 28 percent of the rural population in the U.S. lack access to midrange 3Mbps broadband service, according to a new report from two U.S. agencies.
Websites belonging to the Brazilian government and energy giant Petrobras were knocked offline Wednesday in a series of cyberattacks.
New legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives would require mobile carriers to detail their "guaranteed minimum" data speeds and their network reliability statistics to potential customers.
The European Commission has sent a clear message to telecom operators that they must allow access to their networks and wholesale broadband markets to new operators by fining Telekomunikacja Polska more than €127 million (US$182 million).
The former co-owner of Illinois networking vendor Global Networking Technologies was sentenced Tuesday to serve one year and one day in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud a U.S. government program delivering Internet service to s...
Current regulations aren't enough to warn customers and protect them against data breaches at financial institutions, one U.S. senator said during a hearing Tuesday.
A new supercomputer from Japan whose performance passed the 8 petaflop milestone ended China's brief period atop the list of the world's fastest supercomputers.
Mobile broadband startup LightSquared proposed an alternative network plan on Monday in which it would use different frequencies to prevent interference with GPS.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will consider new rules to help telephone service customers decipher their phone bills and guard against unwanted charges, the agency's chairman said Monday.
Google's Street View has got off to a bad start in Bangalore, with the city police objecting to the collection of data by Google's cars.
The U.S. Department of Justice will reportedly evaluate the antitrust implications of Google's proposed acquisition of Admeld, whose technology is designed to help web pu...
Huawei Technologies has rejected a charge by the head of the U.S. Export-Import Bank that it has an unfair advantage over rivals because of help from the Chinese government.
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Several complaints have been lodged on Apple’s M1 MacBook displays cracking during normal usage. The M1 MacBook Air and the M1 MacBook Pro are both included in this unusual cracking issue. Apple, however, has so far refused to accept responsibility.
As reported by 9to5Mac, the problem started when M1 MacBook owners noticed that their screens were cracking by just opening and closing the lids of the laptops. Multiple threads on Apple Support Communities and Reddit are filled with such complaints. Users also reported the cracks being simply there the next time they used the machine after putting it down.
Apple, however, still isn’t convinced, blaming the cracks on accidental damage during handling. Seeing how the tech giant is dealing with the issue, the issue has been taken to the law firm Migliaccio & Rathod LLP.
According to the law firm’s investigation, “Many users allege that they have opened their devices from the closed position without applying any undue pressure, only to find dramatic cracks in the retina display, often accompanied by black bars running across the screen. Others report that the crack followed a simple adjustment of the screen’s viewing angle. In none of these cases would a reasonable consumer expect such activity to damage their device, let alone cause a screen crack that impairs its functionality.”
In some cases, the company has repaired screens without charging anything. However, other customers were not so fortunate. The company charged a lot of these consumers anywhere between $300 to $800 for replacing the display. They also claimed that the reason behind the unusual cracking was small pieces of debris that managed to find their way between the screen and the keyboard.
“Unfortunately, Apple’s customer service has not been receptive to these grievances. Users complain that Apple representatives insist the culprit is a small item or particle that gets lodged between the keyboard and screen upon its closing, even when that explanation runs completely counter to users’ experiences,” says Migliaccio & Rathod LLP.
M1 MacBook owners, however, were not content with Apple’s claims and have therefore taken the matter to court. The law firm says, “Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is currently investigating Apple over widespread reports that the retina display in their recent line of M1 MacBook laptops is vulnerable to screen cracks during normal usage. Many suspect that the display is simply not sturdy enough to withstand the normal pressures of opening, closing, or adjusting its position, an issue for which Apple has provided zero forewarning. Whatever the case, users are left with little choice but to spend upwards of $600 to have their display repaired, with no guarantee that the screen crack defect won’t reoccur at a later date.”
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DETROIT — It was not long ago that Ford Motor was considered the healthiest of the Detroit automakers.
Unlike General Motors and Chrysler, Ford survived the financial crisis that began in 2007 without the help of bankruptcy or a government bailout, and had appeared well positioned to take advantage of the booming American auto market.
But investors have taken a more pessimistic view, raising questions about the leadership of its chief executive, Mark Fields.
Ford’s stock has declined about 40 percent since Mr. Fields took over three years ago, and 10 percent since Jan. 1, even as the overall market has risen. And with profits slipping, Ford is under pressure to engineer a turnaround — starting with Wednesday’s announcement that it would cut 1,400 salaried jobs in North America and Asia.
The cutbacks are relatively small given Ford’s global work force of 202,000. Yet it appears to be just the beginning of a long retrenchment for the nation’s No. 2 car company, and a critical test for Mr. Fields and his strategy to vault Ford into the high-tech race to develop self-driving cars and electric vehicles.
“I think Ford is in a tough spot,” said David Whiston, an analyst with the investment firm Morningstar. “There’s no one or two silver bullets that will make the stock rally.”
Cutting costs while investing in advanced technology is, indeed, a difficult balancing act. Ford is trimming salaried employees, G.M. is cutting production shifts at some factories and Fiat Chrysler has idled plants that make passenger cars. Automakers have also increased discounts to move bulging inventories of unsold models.
Ford, for its part, is tamping down expectations for its all-important North American division, which accounts for a vast majority of its profits. The company’s earnings fell more than 30 percent in the first quarter, and Mr. Fields has said the full-year results will also be down from 2016.
But it is proving hard to sell Ford shareholders on diminished results in the short term, while the company continues to invest heavily in future technology — particularly when it is competing with Silicon Valley heavyweights like Google on self-driving research.
When it announced quarterly earnings last month, Ford said it would achieve $3 billion in efficiencies this year, mostly offsetting the cost of investments in those “emerging opportunities,” an allusion to technologies like driverless and electric vehicles and ride-hailing services.
Some analysts have suggested that Mr. Fields should be bolder in remaking the company by reducing its car lineup further — and possibly getting out of the unprofitable small-car business entirely.
But most have generally supported Ford’s twin-barreled approach. Brian Johnson of Barclays, for example, said the company’s strategy was sound, and contrasted its “unsplashy” actions with the stock-market hype surrounding the upstart electric carmaker Tesla.
“As opposed to making Twitter claims around full autonomy and electric trucks, Ford has an underappreciated strategy toward electrification and autonomy,” Mr. Johnson wrote in a research note.
The anticipation for Tesla’s future has helped it pass Ford and G.M. in market value, even though it makes a fraction of the cars that Ford produces. And Tesla already has two distinct electric cars on the road, while Ford is limited to selling niche, battery-powered versions of conventional models.
The business pressures add up to a moment of truth for Mr. Fields. His predecessor, Alan R. Mulally, was given credit for steering Ford through the recession and simplifying its product lineup through his “One Ford” strategy. Much of Ford’s emphasis during his tenure was on smaller, fuel-efficient passenger cars, which have since lost favor with customers because of low gas prices.
And while G.M. and Chrysler floundered with high costs, shifting strategies, and constant turnover of senior executives, Ford seemed a model of consistency.
“The One Ford plan was an elegant and powerful blueprint that became the mantra of the firm’s reinvention from the last crisis,” said Adam Jonas, an analyst with Morgan Stanley. “There are important lessons here.”
Mr. Fields is clearly trying to sharpen his focus after an extended board meeting last week. William C. Ford Jr., Ford’s chairman, admitted at the company’s recent annual meeting that he was frustrated by the stock price.
The first sign of how Mr. Fields is responding to the drumbeat of negative news came on Wednesday, when the company said it would offer early retirement packages and buyouts to 10 percent of salaried workers in certain business units in North America and Asia.
Those separation packages, however, do not include employees in product development, information technology and the company’s Ford Credit arm. The company said factory jobs were also unaffected.
The cutbacks are aimed at “reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible,” the company said in a statement. At the same time, Ford said it was committed to “investing aggressively, but prudently” in new operations devoted to future technology.
Ford is holding its own in selling truck and sport-utility vehicles, but it has big problems in passenger-car segments, where sales have plunged almost 25 percent so far this year.
By comparison, sales of cars at Toyota and G.M.’s Chevrolet division are down only about 11 percent during the same period.
One analyst said Ford’s cars were older in comparison to its rivals, and need to be updated to better compete. “The Fusion was pretty cutting edge when it was redesigned in 2013, but now it looks dated,” said the analyst, Jessica Caldwell of the auto-research site Edmunds.
Ford also has a big hole in the subcompact S.U.V. segment, and has gained little traction in the market from its hybrid gas-electric models.
The larger issue is whether Mr. Fields could tinker with the current strategy enough to convince investors that Ford has a bright future.
Among the company’s initiatives is a plan to create a sprawling, high-tech headquarters campus in Dearborn, Mich., of energy-efficient buildings that will be linked by self-driving vehicles. The project is expected to take 10 years to complete and is estimated to cost at least $1 billion. Ford also pledged to invest $1 billion over the next five years in the software company Argo AI.
Those investments were intended to help Mr. Fields reach an ambitious goal. Last summer, speaking at Ford’s research center in Silicon Valley, he vowed that the company would begin mass producing a self-driving car — with no steering wheel and no pedals — by 2021.


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Telkom Mobile has been unveiled and is targeting South Africa’s “heavy and high-end users” on a “faster, top quality network”.
The part state-owned telecommunications operator caused significant confusion earlier this month when it appeared to ditch its mobile brand 8ta, only for it to backtrack within 24 hours.
Telkom’s alternative to 8ta has now been revealed however, with 8ta now a “sub-brand” of Telkom Mobile.
Attila Vitai said: “There is a significant core group of consumers who expect to be able to do more with their devices in their own time and on their own terms.
“They know a lot about mobile products and are getting better at understanding complex deals and associated terms and conditions. With this increasing savvy they want simplicity and the ease of selection and use of their mobile products.
Vitai added the reason for sticking with 8ta was because it has a strong and loyal following in some parts of the market.
Telkom Mobile will be aimed at those consumers who use a lot of data and voice call services.


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According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartwatch shipments reached 8.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with 7.9 million Swiss Watch shipments. It’s the first time ever that smartwatches have outshipped Swiss watches on a global basis, says the research group.
The Apple Watch captured 63% share of the global smartwatch market, followed by Samsung with 16%. Apple and Samsung together account for eight in 10 of all smartwatches shipped worldwide.
Global smartwatch shipments reached 8.1 million units in quarter four, rising 316% from 1.9 million in the fourth quarter 2014. Smartwatches are growing rapidly in North America, Western Europe and Asia.
“We estimate global Swiss watch shipments reached 7.9 million units in Q4 2015, falling 5% from 8.3 million in Q4 2014,” says Steven Waltzer, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Global demand for Swiss watches is slowing down, and major players like Swatch are struggling to find growth.”
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, adds: “The Swiss watch industry has been very slow to react to the development of smartwatches. The Swiss watch industry has been sticking its head in the sand and hoping smartwatches will go away. Swiss brands, like Tag Heuer, accounted for a tiny 1 percent of all smartwatches shipped globally during Q4 2015, and they are long way behind Apple, Samsung and other leaders in the high-growth smartwatch category.”


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If you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the unveiling of the next iPhone, good news: You don’t have long to go. Apple will almost certainly unveil its next flagship smartphone on Tuesday, September 10.
The September time frame was always a given, as was the fact that the iPhone 11 unveiling would happen in the first half of the month—that’s just how things have played out with iPhone launches for the last several years. But thanks to the latest iOS 13 beta build, we now know the expected unveiling date is set for the 10th. Why? Mac site iHelpBR found a screenshot in the latest beta of iOS 13 that was named “HoldForRelease.” That screenshot shows the iPhone’s home screen, and on it the Calendar app icon reads “Tuesday 10″–as in Tuesday, September 10, 2019.
While this isn’t explicit confirmation of the iPhone 11’s unveiling—well, who are we kidding? It’s confirmation of the iPhone 11’s unveiling date. Within the next two weeks (probably during the week of August 26-30), Apple will confirm this date when it sends out press invites. Apple always likes to get its iPhone event press invites out before Labor Day, which is September 2 this year. Doing so allows publications enough time to arrange travel plans for their journalists.
So on September 10, expect to see the iPhone 11 (which will replace the iPhone XR), as well as the iPhone 11 Pro (the iPhone XS replacement) and the iPhone 11 Pro Max (the iPhone XR Max replacement). Oh, and since we know pretty much for sure that September 10 is the date of the next iPhone unveiling, that gives us an idea of other key Apple dates in September:
- Tuesday, September 10: likely unveiling of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max
- Friday, September 13: likely date pre-orders will begin for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max
- Tuesday, September 17, or Wednesday, September 18: likely dates Apple will release the final versions of iOS 13, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6 to the public
- Friday, September 20: likely date the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max will go on sale